Justin Schultz netted the game-winning goal with 2:25 left in overtime, lifting the Seattle Kraken to a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night.
This marked Seattle’s season-high fourth consecutive win and their sixth straight one-goal game (4-0-2). The Kraken also tied a franchise record by earning points in their eighth consecutive game (6-0-2).
Oliver Bjorkstrand, playing in his 500th NHL game, passed the puck along the right boards to Schultz, who slid it past Flyers goalie Carter Hart for his third goal of the season. Hart finished with 27 saves.
“I just kind of waited for the opportunity,” Schultz said. “Bjorky and (Yanni Gourde) did a great job holding onto the puck, and we found an opening. I was lucky enough to score.”
“We’re just sticking with it. Everyone is working hard, and we knew it was there, it just wasn’t coming for us,” Schultz added. “We believe in this group. We have almost the same team as last year, so we know we can do it. We’re heading in the right direction now.”
Travis Konecny put the Flyers ahead 1-0 with his team-leading 17th goal of the season at 16:21 of the first period, his fourth short-handed goal of the year. On a breakaway, Scott Laughton passed the puck through the crease, and Konecny tipped it inside the post.
Philadelphia leads the league with nine short-handed goals this season.
Vince Dunn tied the game for the Kraken with a power-play goal at 5:45 of the third period. Seattle won a faceoff in the left wing circle, and Bjorkstrand passed the puck to Dunn just inside the blue line. Dunn’s shot flew into the back right corner of the net for his sixth goal of the season and his team-leading 30th point.
Joey Daccord made 27 saves for the Kraken.
“Another typical game tonight — a tight one-goal game, a 2-1 game that goes into overtime. We’ve been involved in a lot of those,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “We’ve talked a lot about being comfortable in those situations. Tonight, we probably didn’t do it exactly the way we wanted. We made a mistake on the power play and had to chase the game against a really good defensive team. But we stayed with it. We didn’t try to do anything crazy. We just stayed on it.”
Philadelphia extended their road points streak to nine games (6-0-3). This game was the second of a four-game Western trip that began with a 4-1 win against Pacific Division co-leader Vancouver on Thursday.
“This is a hard trip coming off a break and getting on a plane for five hours and playing two in a row,” said Philadelphia’s John Tortorella, who coached his 1,500th NHL game — the eighth coach all-time and the first U.S.-born coach to do so. “The guys handled themselves well. There wasn’t much going on for a lot of the game. They generated a bit more as the game went on. It’s just about grinding away and finding a way to get a point.”
Upcoming Games
- Kraken: Host Vegas in the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.
- Flyers: Visit Calgary on Sunday.
